EFL 2018: Vermont set to enter Division 1 grand final as favourites against South Croydon
VERMONT will have to handle the tag of flag favourites for a third consecutive grand final if its is to secure a 20th Eastern Football League premiership.
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VERMONT will have to handle the tag of flag favourites for a third consecutive grand final if its is to secure a 20th Eastern Football League premiership.
The competition powerhouse lost a total of three games in 2016 and 2017 but finished runner-up in both seasons.
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The Eagles are hoping to avoid being the third top flight club to lose three consecutive grand finals after East Burwood (2002-04) and East Ringwood (1986-88).
Internal and external expectations are that this group wins the premiership, but Vermont will need to stand up on the league’s biggest day to taste that ultimate success.
The Eagles will enter Saturday’s decider against South Croydon on a five-game winning streak after bouncing back from a mid-season form slump to rediscover their best football at business end of the year.
A near full-strength Vermont dismantled defending premier South Croydon in the semi-final, in a contest eerily similar to the corresponding fixture last year.
Only this year Harmit Singh’s men will be hoping to reverse the grand final result after the Bulldogs stunned the Eagles in the 2017 decider.
Vermont skipper Lachie Johns said the club’s expectation was to win the flag.
“Anything short of winning the flag, we’d see as a fail and that was definitely the case last year as well,” Johns said.
“We thought we had the list to win a flag and that was the goal at the start of the year and obviously it was pretty disappointing we didn’t finish that off.
“Internally, and I’m sure the Vermont supporters — their expectation is for us to win — our expectation is that we win and we think if we do everything right, then that is more than achievable.”
Vermont dropped consecutive games for the first time in nearly four years during the season when it lost three matches in a five-round stretch.
Despite remaining at the top of the Division 1 ladder, the form slump left some observers questioning where the Eagles’ season was heading.
But Vermont’s class has risen to the top over the past month.
Former SANFL spearhead Andrew Ainger and ex-Port Adelaide forward Brett Eddy have proven to be a dangerous combination in attack, big man Liam Buxton has been one of the competition’s dominant ruckman, ex-Hawthorn rookie Tom Schneider has enjoyed a top season, while Tom Maas and Jordan Collopy have added more class to an already powerful midfield.
Johns and interleague duo Adam Parker and Joey Fisher have also overcome injury to make welcome returns in recent weeks.
Johns said the indifferent performances re-focused the group as it looks to secure its first premiership since 2009.
“What changed between the middle of the year and now is we found our defensive pressure — tackling, chasing and that — started to slip a little bit,” Johns said.
“I guess you can probably get a little bit complacent when you start winning again and again and again and thinking that it’s just going to keep happening.
“Once you lose a few games, it puts things back into perspective given you realise it could be slipping away again.
“It really re-focused us so it was probably a good thing in the end.”
Vermont will meet South Croydon in the grand final at Bayswater Oval on Saturday at 2.30pm.
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